Instagram should hire some faster Android developers if that is the case, it's been an issue since 2012:
https://www.xda-developers.com/a-look-into-instagrams-compre...
> I imagine in this case the android team is fairly separate
This is likely it, right here. So many people forget that larger companies have different teams working on different things. I bet a lot of their "iOS people" that are working on this project have no clue how the Android app works, and Instagram likely has a separate team working on the compression issues.
"Working on" since 2012?
I don't use IG, so I wasn't aware of that problem or how long it had been around. That said, the general sentiment stands: one of their teams working on one thing doesn't show that they don't have another team working on something unrelated.
And regarding android compression issues, although resources are always finite, I imagine in this case the android team is fairly separate, so they may very well be working on that compression issue while iOS is pushing forward into new terrain.